In what follows, guidelines relating to Commissions and Chairpersons shall
also apply to Steering Groups and Coordinators, unless otherwise specified.
1.1.1 Commissions are appointed by the Board to take forward work and provide advice on matters laid down in the Board's Strategic Plan, ensuring that cross-cutting issues are adequately addressed in the Commission's work.
1.1.2 Steering Groups are appointed by the Board to provide advice on and to deal with particular groups of blind and partially sighted people (elderly, youth, women, people with low vision, deafblind, people with additional impairments), to raise their visibility and to make sure their needs are adequately addressed in the Board's and Commissions' work.
Commissions should not be thought of as a fixed body of people meeting
together at regular intervals, but rather as a pool of experts which can be
drawn on flexibly by the Board and the Commission's Chairperson as a resource,
depending on the task in hand.
Within this format Steering Groups coordinate the work of the Board and
commissions on the group of blind and partially sighted people they represent.
They should also be seen as facilitators providing resources (e.g. networks) for
the Board and Commissions to use with a view to addressing cross-cutting issues
adequately.
Subject to point 2,1 below, the number of commission members may vary
depending on the number of people available with relevant expertise, but should
not be too large, so as to be able to act flexibly and swiftly.
To fulfil their coordinating and facilitating role, Steering Groups should be
much smaller in size.
The Board, and any Commission with the approval of the Board, may establish
sub-groups (task forces, project groups, working groups, etc.) to deal with
matters requiring special knowledge and attention.
The members of any sub-group shall be appointed by the Chairperson.
Not all members of a sub-group need be members of the Commission establishing
it.
A sub-group shall be dissolved once the task assigned to it has been completed.
All Commissions and Steering groups are encouraged to establish an EBU
Network related to the area. The network can be seen as a support group, a
think-tank and valuable source of information on the workarea.Ideally, the
network consists of one person from each EBU member country.
The Chairperson, as well as the other members of each Commission, shall be
appointed by the Board on the basis of nominations submitted by member countries
- except in the case of the Commission for Liaising with the European Union,
where the national member in each of the countries of the European Union, plus
Norway and Iceland, shall make the appointment- for a term expiring at the end
of the next General Assembly.
The President is an ex officio member of all Commissions.
Members of Commissions will be selected for their knowledge, skills and
expertise in relation to the work of the Commission to which they are appointed.
Any nomination for a Commission must be supported by a curriculum vitae
indicating the nominee's suitability in terms of skills and availability.
Individuals accepting nomination to a Commission must recognise that membership
is not just an honour. It requires commitment of time and energy. A Commission
member must be willing to participate in the work of the Commission not only at
meetings but also during periods between meetings. Members who are not active
may be replaced by the Chairperson, in consultation with the Board.
Each member country may have more than one representative on a given Commission, provided they have recognised expertise in the different areas of work covered by that Commission.
A national member may submit that their nominees shall not take part in face-to-face meetings and that their contributions are made via email or other technological means.
A member of a Commission who does not speak English fluently should be
supported by a competent interpreter.
Proceedings at meetings of the Steering Group on Deafblind People shall be
conducted in sign language or any other means of communication they choose to
use.
In those Commissions where a balanced representation cannot be reached from nominations by national members, the Chairperson and the Board Representative are to actively recruit members from the less well represented groups, in consultation with the relevant national members.
Persons appointed to the Youth Steering Group shall be aged between 15 and 30.
To ensure effective communication and interaction between the Board and
Commissions, the Board will appoint one of its members to represent it on each
Commission. Board Representatives will have overall responsibility for the
thematic area assigned to them. In particular they will:
Monitor and follow up the implementation of the Board's Strategic Plan;
Make sure that cross-cutting issues are adequately addressed in the work of
Commissions;
Advise Commission Chairpersons on how to carry their Plans of Action forward;
Bring to the attention of the Board at meetings immediately following Commission
meetings any issues requiring action, notwithstanding that the minutes of the
Commission meeting have not yet been approved; and
Report to the Board any issue, request or concern raised by the Commission.
Board representatives may take part in discussions and make proposals, but have
no right to vote.
Each Commission shall, as soon as possible but within six months of being appointed prepare an Action Plan based on the Board's Strategic Plan and on other tasks allocated to it by the Board, and submit it to the Board for approval. The Action Plan will list work items in order of priority.
The Action Plan will be put together in consultation with the Steering Groups
so that at least one of the top four priorities deals with a cross-cutting
issue.
The Action Plan shall state for each activity:
the person in charge, the deadline for completion, resources required, and
status (for follow up).
Any recommendations or proposals made by a Commission must be approved by the Board before being put into effect. The Board's approval may be given between meetings through the Board's email list.
For each Commission an email list will be set up by the EBU Office to ease
communication between its members.The Steering Groups will be included in these
Commission email lists.
An email list will also be set up for Leaders of all Commissions and Steering
Groups.
An email list will be set up for communication between the Steering Groups. One
linkperson from each Commission will be included in this email list.
Email list members are responsible for keeping the list updated by informing the
EBU Office of any changes.
All documentation relevant to the work of a commission shall be sent out via its email list.
Where a commission wishes to produce a publication, it should first obtain the approval of the Board.
Chairpersons and Coordinators are responsible for providing and updating information on sections of the EBU website that relate to their area of work via the EBU Office.
In order to promote EBU's visibility and profile, all external contacts should be established through the EBU Office.
No commission may undertake any financial commitment or enter into any
binding agreement without the prior approval of the Board.
The Chairperson of the Commission for Liaising with the European Union may enter
into agreements with the organs of the European Union so far as necessary to
comply with the requirements for the receipt of grants under the various
programmes of the European Union. The Chairperson shall provide the EBU
Treasurer with annual financial reports.
Meetings may be held through Skype, teleconference, email or be face- to-face.
The Chairperson of each Commission is responsible for the preparation and
organisation of its meetings.
The Chairperson shall put together an agenda in consultation with the Board's representative appointed to his/her commission. The agenda is circulated through the Commission e-mail list and the Chairpersons e-mail list.
If considered desirable for the purpose of assisting the Commission in its work, a Chairperson may invite an expert or other adviser to attend any meeting of the Commission. Such person may take part in discussions and make proposals, but shall not have the right to vote.
At any meeting of a Commission, the necessary quorum shall be not less than half of the members of the Commission. If a quorum is not present, the meeting may proceed, but the Board will, in considering recommendations put to it, take into account that only a minority of members of the Commission participated in discussions.
Members may send a substitute. This should be formally communicated to the Chairperson of the Commission in advance of the meeting.
Face-to-face meetings may be convened from time to time to advance specific work items, and will be attended by members with expertise relevant to those items.
6.7.1 When meetings are held face-to-face, they should be arranged by the host country and the Chairperson of the Commission.
6.7.2 The Chairperson will consult with the Director of the Office, the Board representative and Commission members before fixing a time and place for the meeting.
6.7.3 The host country shall pay for board and lodging and arrange for transport between airport and hotel for the Board representative, Commission members and guides from non-industrialised countries, including those from the EU Accession Countries.
6.7.4 Members from industrialised countries shall pay for board and lodging (see list of industrialised/non-industrialised countries in appendix 1).
6.7.5 Member countries shall pay the travel expenses of their members, except in exceptional circumstances.
As soon as possible after a Commission meeting and in any case within one
month of the conclusion of the meeting, the Chairperson of the Commission shall
arrange for the circulation of draft minutes.
Members of the Commission may then, within 14 days (42 days in the case of the
Deafblind Steering Group), submit proposals to amend the draft minutes.
Within two months after a Commission meeting (3 months in the case of the Deafblind Steering Group), the Chairperson shall send the final version of the minutes to the Board via EBU's Office.
The Board shall confirm the Commission's minutes within 14 days following receipt, unless a Board member requests that they are considered at the next Board meeting.
Be in English;
Be short and concise (summarising discussions rather than reproducing them) to
allow for swift processing;
Include a separate decision and action list for easy and quick reference. The
list should include: actions/decisions, persons in charge, deadline and status.
Commissions shall prepare a mid-term report (in the format specified in appendix 2) to be incorporated in the Board's mid-term evaluation of how the Strategic Plan is being progressed.
Each Commission shall prepare a written report of its activities during the
current period (as nearly as possible in the format specified in appendix 2) and
submit it for the Board's consideration no later than four months before the
next General Assembly.
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